Phytol stimulates the browning of white adipocytes through the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) α in mice fed high-fat diet

作者：Zhang, Fenglin; Ai, Wei; Hu, Xiaoquan; Meng, Yingying; Yuan, Cong; Su, Han; Wang, Lina; Zhu, Xiaotong; Gao, Ping; Shu, Gang; Jiang, Qingyan; Wang, Songbo^*

来源：Food & Function, 2018, 9(4): 2043-2050.

DOI：10.1039/c7fo01817g

• PI3K/AKT SIGNALING PATHWAY
• ADIPOSE-TISSUE
• PHYTANIC ACID
• PRISTANIC ACID
• PPAR-ALPHA
• METABOLISM
• THERMOGENESIS
• DIFFERENTIATION
• ADIPOGENESIS
• MOUSE

Stimulating the browning of white adipocytes contributes to the restriction of obesity and related metabolic disorders. This study aimed to investigate the browning effects of phytol on mice inguinal subcutaneous white adipose tissue (TWAT) and explore the underlying mechanisms. Our results demonstrated that phytol administration decreased body weight gain and iWAT index, and stimulated the browning of mice iWAT, with the increased expression of brown adipocyte marker genes (UCP1, PRDM16, PGC1 alpha, PDH, and Cyto C). In addition, phytol treatment activated the AMPK alpha signaling pathway in mice iWAT. In good agreement with the in vivo findings, the in vitro results showed that 100 mu M phytol stimulated brown adipogenic differentiation and formation of brown-like adipocytes in the differentiated 3T3-L1 by increasing the mitochondria content and oxygen consumption, and promoting mRNA and/or protein expression of brown adipocyte markers (UCP1, PRDM16, PGC1 alpha, PDH, Cyto C, Cidea and Elovl3) and beige adipocyte markers (CD137 and TMEM26). Meanwhile, phytol activated the AMPK alpha signaling pathway in the differentiated 3T3-L1. However, the inhibition of AMPK alpha with Compound C totally abolished phytol-stimulated brown adipogenic differentiation and formation of brown-like adipocytes. In conclusion, these results showed that phytol stimulated the browning of mice iWAT, which was coincident with the increased formation of brown-like adipocytes in the differentiated 3T3-L1, and appeared to be primarily mediated by the AMPK alpha signaling pathway. These data provided new insight into the role of phytol in regulating the browning of WAT and suggested the potential application of phytol as a nutritional intervention for the restriction of obesity and related metabolic disorders.

• 出版日期2018-4-1
• 单位华南农业大学; 华南热带农业大学